[H2]Chapter 2 - Perfidious Dark[/H2]
She was back in the Cradle. Everything around her was wrapped in night, a perfidious dark, crisscrossed with purple skeins on the walls, ceiling and floor. She looked down at her hands; they were covered in black, bristling algae. It crept up her body, toothy shoots wrapping around her neck. She opened her mouth to scream, and algae sprouted from in there too, curling around her lips and blocking her nose.

“Mummy?” A small, thin voice called from the dark. She looked up, unable to breathe but still searching for her daughter. The algae crawled past her eyelids and wriggled under her eyes. She couldn’t blink. “Freyr, where are you?” A man’s voice called, far away. She called back with every fibre of her being, but could only manage a muffled hum, deep within her throat. Something in the darkness chuckled.

A pale human face, one she remembered, but with black eyes and a gaping black hole for a mouth, appeared from the dark in front of her. “I can seeeee youuuu.” It sang, it’s voice wet and somehow dead. She screamed anew. The face flew toward her, on the end of a giant insect creature. It’s mouth grew wider and long, sharp teeth appeared that filled her vision as the algae covered her eyes-

Freyr thrashed around, screaming into her pillow until she was finally awake and her covers lay on the floor. She heard clattering and looked around just as Masgard, the lawyer from yesterday, and four guards with guns burst into her bedroom. “Dr Lang!” Masgard shouted, then he surveyed the look on Freyr’s face and the abandoned covers and realised what had happened. “Bad dream?” He asked. Freyr nodded, grabbing the covers back up to drape them over herself. “Clear.” Officers began calling from all corners of the apartment, including in the bedroom. “Ok, everyone out please! I need to talk to my client. I’ll let you get dressed, Dr Lang. Sorry for the disturbance; we thought someone was trying to kill you.” Masgard grinned sheepishly.

Once everyone had left her bedroom, Freyr quickly changed from her night clothes into some sturdy, comfortable trousers, her work boots & gloves, and a black tank top. She rejoined the living room, where Masgard was waiting with two takeaway cups and a large paper bag. “I brought some pastries and something hot to drink.” Freyr was actually starving after only eating a small part of her dinner, so thanked him and tucked in. “So, i have news from the Cradle.” Masgard began after they’d each eaten a pastry. He sat across the breakfast bar from her, his hands clasped around his cup of tea. Freyr looked up. “What’s that?” She said after politely swallowing what was in her mouth at the time.

“This is classified top secret. You Know Who-...” Masgard tapped just below his right eye, taking Freyr instantly back to the mysterious man with the augmented eyes. “...-wanted to bring you back into the Cradle personally to hear this, but i persuaded him you needed a little time away from that place.” Freyr smiled gratefully. “Thank you, i appreciate that. After last night i…[b]definitely[/b] need some time to decompress.” She grabbed the canister of pills that were still sitting on the counter, and took one with her tea.

“So...” Masgard leaned forward, drawing Freyr in with him. “They sent a team back beyond the Border last night, to investigate the equipment that abomination with the human face was playing with. They found some advanced Rothian-tech communications array, with an activity log. It seems the creature used a testing backdoor to commandeer several comms arrays here, in real-world Babylon. It sent several encrypted bursts to coordinates on the surface of Rothia, the Rothians’ homeworld.” Freyr couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Are you telling me that [i]thing[/i] was trying to talk to someone, light years away?” Masgard shrugged. “I’m not an expert, but those are the facts so far, yes.” Freyr took a big sip of her tea, deep in thought.